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Language and Identity: Multilingual Immigrant Learners in South Africa University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Faculty Publications: Department of Teaching, Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Learning and Teacher Education Education 8-11-2020 Language and Identity: Multilingual Immigrant Learners in South Africa Saloshna Vandeyar Theresa Catalano Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/teachlearnfacpub Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, and the Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications: Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. digitalcommons.unl.edu Language and Identity: Multilingual Immigrant Learners in South Africa Saloshna Vandeyar https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0195-6330 University of Pretoria, South Africa [email protected] Theresa Catalano https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7519-030X University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA [email protected] Abstract Increased multilingualism and mobility have witnessed an increased focus on mul- tilingual immigrant learners. This study aims to help educators understand experi- ences of immigrant students in South Africa that relate to language and identity by comparing such experiences across three different school settings: an urban school with a high (Black) immigrant and indigenous population, a former Indian school, and a former White school. Drawing on semi-structured interviews from a larger case study, this study makes visible the immigrant learner experience in multilin- gual settings in which xenophobic conditions arise. The findings reveal similarities as well as differences in individual identity construction and negotiation and its vi- tal connection to language. Furthermore, they illustrate ways in which these learn- ers must navigate xenophobic trends, exclusive language pedagogies, and language loss. The implications of this study point to a call for policy, practice, and research to take into account multilingual immigrant learners as well as a need to attend to the social construction of identities. Keywords: language and identity, multilingual immigrant learners, South Africa, xenophobia Published in Language Matters, 51:2 (2020), 106-128 DOI:10.1080/10228195.2020.1769713 Copyright © 2020 Unisa Press; published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Used by permission. Published 11 August 2020. 1 Vandeyar & Catalano in Language Matters 51 (2020) 2 1. Introduction Although multilingualism has always existed, today’s multilingual- ism is different. It is wider in scale and both affects and reflects so- ciety as a whole (Aronin 2015). This expansion of multilingualism is due to the “social, linguistic and cultural changes derived from glo- balization, geographical and social mobility, economic and political transformations and the omnipresence of technology in all spheres of life” (Ruiz de Zarobe and Ruiz de Zarobe 2015, 393–395). As a result of this changing multilingualism which is now the norm around the world, increasing attention has been focused on multilingual learners and the ways in which they manage learning and identity negotiation in contexts in which the language/s of school are not necessarily the language/s they speak at home. South Africa (SA), in particular, has been a frequent location of study for multilingual pedagogy, given the rich multilingual environment of the country. South Africa has a complicated history and a complex perspective on Black immigrants.1 Statistical population estimates for South Af- rica report the total population as 57,725,600, of which 80.9% are Black African; 7.8% White; 8.8% Coloured, and 2.5% Indian (StatsSA 2018).2 According to the 2016 census, South Africa has 2.2 million le- gal immigrants and close to 1 million undocumented foreign nation- als (Chiumia 2016). Black immigrant learners can be classed into two groups. The majority of Black immigrant learners are either English or French second- or third-language learners, depending on the colo- nisation process of their respective countries across the African conti- nent. Many of these immigrants still retain their indigenous language, for example Lingala, Hausa or Yoruba. The other group of Black immi- grants comes from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Some of these stu- dents are English second-language learners, but the majority speak their mother tongue for example, Tamil, Hindi or Urdu. 1 “Black immigrants” refers to Africans who come from African countries and who are na- tives of any African country, or descendants of any of the people of Africa, and to Indian immigrants who hail from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 2 During the apartheid era, the term “Blacks” referred to Indian, African and Coloured peo- ple of South Africa. The terms “Coloured,” “White,” “Indian,” and “African” derive from the apartheid racial classifications of the different peoples of South Africa. The use of these terms, although problematic, has continued through the post-apartheid era in the country. In our article, we use these terms grudgingly to help present the necessary con- text for our work. Vandeyar & Catalano in Language Matters 51 (2020) 3 Given this rich multilingual context, it is important to consider how language policy is actually implemented in schools. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (South Africa 1996, chap. 1, point 6) ac- cords all 11 South African languages equal status and the Language in Education Policy (DoE 1997) promotes additive bilingualism through mother-tongue education (primarily in the early years), and gradual access to additional languages, including English. However, until 2018, English and Afrikaans still held a higher status than other languages in SA and the numerous language policies regarding SA’s official lan- guages and education (cf. Plüddemann 2015) were little more than a symbolic gesture. It is only as recently as 2019 that English has been mandated as the language of instruction in some public schools and universities. Alexander (2011) and Heugh and Prinsloo (2013) made repeated calls and sustained their stance on the valuable role of Afri- can languages and the need for multilingualism in the South African school curriculum. Nonetheless, in the last two decades, lack of po- litical will to implement a multilingual policy and legislation has re- sulted in a generation of South African children who have been de- prived of equity, quality education, and improved life chances (Makoe and McKinney 2014; Heugh 2015). Recent research on the South African language policy in education has attended to the interface between multilingual pedagogies, pol- icies, and practices among indigenous students (Heugh 2000; 2015; Makoe and McKinney 2014; Plüddemann 2015 and Probyn 2015). However, little attention has been paid to how language policy and pedagogy are experienced by multilingual immigrant learners. Fur- thermore, few studies have examined the language use of immigrant students in South Africa as it relates to the political and social context characterised by xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment. As such, the present article highlights a perspective that has been largely in- visible in much research of the past by exploring the experiences of multilingual immigrant students in South Africa’s Gauteng province as they engage in daily language and learning practices inside and out- side the classroom. Aligning with Canagarajah’s (2005) call to closely observe language practices in local contexts, this study’s purpose is to help educators (in SA, but also in any multilingual/multicultural context of education) understand the experiences of immigrant stu- dents as they relate to language and identity and the way these inter- act with pedagogy. Vandeyar & Catalano in Language Matters 51 (2020) 4 2. Exploring the Terrain 2.1. Multilingual Pedagogies Current theories in language acquisition and teaching view multilin- gualism as a natural phenomenon (Agnihotri 2014), although this has not always been the case. As Canagarajah (2013, 33) points out, “What we have are new theories, but not new practices.” Language pedagogy (and research) has begun to align with these new conceptualisations of multilingualism, favouring heteroglossic ideologies that “conceptual- ize bilingualism and multilingualism as a single complex competence in contrast to mastery over distinct languages” (Flores and Beards- more 2015, 214). One such approach to language use and pedagogy is translanguaging (García 2009; Williams 1996). According to Gar- cía and Wei (2014, 18), translanguaging refers to the multiple discur- sive language practices that bi/multilingual students engage in daily to make sense of their bi/multilingual worlds and to a way of captur- ing the expanded complex practices of speakers who “live between different societal and semiotic contexts as they interact with a com- plex array of speakers.” This approach to language learning and use questions the boundaries between languages and emphasises the im- portance of understanding what speakers do with language (Makalela 2015). Pedagogical translanguaging engages teachers in fluid move- ment between languages as needed in order to make meaning for their students, emphasising versatile ways of communicating
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